


An Armful of Feelings

by Sophie



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, World's Finest (Comics)
Genre: Consentacles, Discrimination due to appearance, Fluff, Interspecies, Other, Telepathy, Tentacles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-19
Updated: 2013-04-19
Packaged: 2017-12-08 10:13:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/760198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophie/pseuds/Sophie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick gets shot and has to be brought to Superman's Fortress to heal. He meets a tentacle alien that he befriends, and also possibly sort of starts dating. No one really approves much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Armful of Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the [Tentacle Big Bang](http://tentaclebigbang.dreamwidth.org/).
> 
> Thanks to [Tali](http://archiveofourown.org/users/inabathrobe/pseuds/inabathrobe) for the SPAG beta, to [Toast](http://archiveofourown.org/users/dytabytes/pseuds/dytabytes) and [Yue-ix](http://archiveofourown.org/users/yue_ix/pseuds/yue_ix) for the plot beta and to everyone who cheered while I was trying to figure things out.

Dick can't put any weight on his right leg at all. He has tried, and this is why he is not currently standing up, but is instead slumped down, leaning back against a wall and trying to find his breath. He would be feeling guilty about it and swearing at himself because this is all his fault and he hadn't been careful enough —if he weren't concentrating on not fainting because of the pain. He hates how hard it is to make himself stay conscious, especially since it's not hurting _that_ much. Not in the position he's in right now, anyway. He's not going to try standing up again anytime soon, though.

He presses a hand against the wound, but he can't push hard enough to do anything about how much he's bleeding. When he tries to, it sends a wave of pain to his head that makes everything blurry.

He hears Superman and Batman talking —which is mostly Superman talking and Batman listening and muttering monosyllables— and he makes himself listen when he hears his name. It's not enough to make sense out of the words.

He doesn't realise that Superman has moved next to him until the man strokes the side of his head gently. "Robin? Can you hear me?"

He does and he wants to start crying. He hates that he's feeling so useless right here, next to Superman and Batman. He hopes no criminals escaped because they had to protect him after he got shot. He swallows and opens his eyes, shifting them to look at Batman. He isn't very far, securing the criminals who weren't tied up yet (Dick's brain isn't cooperative when he wants to count them to verify they're all on the ground and not running free) and their eyes meet. He looks worried, but not angry.

"Batman has agreed to let me bring you to my Fortress. It will be able to remove the bullet and heal you more efficiently than—" He doesn't finish and looks uncomfortable. Dick smiles sadly and keeps staring right at Batman. His sight blurs for a moment, filling up with thousands of blinking white spots. He closes his eyes again.

"Nothing's more... efficient than Alfred..."

He can't look at Bruce anymore, but he hopes it made him smile —or worry a little less.

"I'm sure," Superman humours him. "We will have to stop the bleeding before we leave." This is such an obvious statement that Dick wonders why Superman even told him.

The sound of Batman's cape tells Dick that he has moved closer, too. He's probably kneeling next to him, now. A mask is applied over his nose and mouth. "Anaesthetic." Ah, that would be why; Batman has always been a lot better at being clear and concise than Superman. Dick nods; he does prefer to be made unconscious before they take care of his leg, rather than faint as they do it.

When he wakes up, he's stunned by how _white_ everything around him is. Something's moving against his leg— He can't sit up enough to get a _good_ view, but— Okay, it's the bed he's lying on. It's morphing into... He's not sure. He's read the files on the Fortress and knows that it's somehow alive, but it's something else entirely to see it and feel it for himself.

"Uhm."

He's still very dizzy, but at least it's not from the pain. He doesn't like the way he's feeling at all. He wants to move as soon as possible, he wants to—

"Bruce?" He should have called out for Batman. Or shouldn't have called out for anyone.

A blur of red and blue is all the warning he gets before he sees Superman hovering over him. "He insisted on coming using his own... means of transportation. He will be here within the hour."

Dick bites his lips and moves his head from right to left and back. It doesn't help with the dizziness —the opposite, actually.

"Go back to sleep. You will be feeling better next time you wake up." This sounds like a really good suggestion.

The bed-Fortress-thing isn't covering his leg anymore when he regains consciousness. He also doesn't feel nearly as drugged as he did before. He can open his eyes right away and see just as clearly as he would in any other circumstances. Bruce is a few feet away, his cowl off. He's not facing Dick, and Dick can't tell what he's doing.

Dick tries to figure out what to say to grab his attention but can't find anything that doesn't sound stupid. He's still thinking about the relevance of calling out, "hey," when Bruce turns around and their eyes meet. All the saliva that was left in Dick's mouth seems to think it's a good time to disappear.

"I'm sorry."

Bruce is all over him in a second, his hand on Dick's shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "Don't." Bruce smiles with his eyes. It makes Dick feel a lot better. "Kal says you'll be fully functional in four days if you stay here."

It must have been a huge sacrifice on Bruce's part to agree that Dick be healed in Antarctica. Bruce always deals with _his_ injuries without involving sentient alien fortresses.

"It's fine. I can go back right now and rest in Gotham," comes the immediate answer. He's not sure exactly how much he believes his own words, but he knows this is what Bruce wants to hear. This is good enough.

"It would be counter-effective."

Dick has no reply because it is entirely true, of course.

"I'll try to be here as much as possible in the next four days."

Dick nods, and the wave of guilt is back. He doesn't want to be a bother. "I'll— it won't—"

Bruce's hold on his shoulder tightens. "No. Not that, either. It will happen again, to the both of us. It's important to react accordingly." It doesn't make Dick feel better about the situation.

*

Dick likes when Batman and Superman work together, most of the time. Their adventures take another turn, the dynamic is different, it's a nice change. It's also the only time he gets to see Superman. Or— This is not strictly true, but he doesn't see him very often outside of those team-ups, and when he does, it's usually because Superman and Batman _should_ be teaming up but Batman is unavailable or something similar.

Dick isn't sure he'd get to see Superman at all if he and Batman weren't friends. The superheroes who aren't Batman's friends are never allowed in Gotham, and even Superman isn't exactly welcome. Not all the time, anyway.

Working with Superman means that, sometimes, he brings Dick flying with him. Dick knows not to look too excited about the prospect, that it makes Batman worry about the state of their partnership when Dick talks about Superman too much. He stays silent when he remembers to and doesn't ask about the other man. And he understands. He likes spending time with Superman, but he _gets_ how it must make Bruce feel, because he feels the same way. When Superman and Batman work together, he's often pushed aside. It's rarely Superman _and_ Batman _and_ Robin.

Most nights, it's Batman and Robin, and Dick always loves it. Well— sometimes, he's angry at Bruce. Sad, disappointed... but that's because he's not understanding enough, or he's tired himself. It's rarely Bruce's fault, and he knows it. Sometimes, they just need to talk – not that they _do_ , of course, because Bruce doesn't talk. Or he doesn't as much as Dick would like him to.

Most nights, it's Batman and Robin; occasionally, it's Superman and Batman. Robin knows that they both appreciate his presence and love him in their own ways. Knowing this doesn't stop Dick from feeling jealous and lonely, especially not right now, because he _can't_ help. He also knows how ridiculous this is, how much it's a bad emotion that he needs to get rid of because it's unproductive since he simply can't have Superman or Batman's undivided attention. He doesn't get jealous when Batman pushes him aside to take care of victims or to talk to Gordon. However, irrationally (and he _knows_ how irrational it is), he feels endangered by Batman and Superman together, as if they were going to take each other away from Dick.

Things are different —worse— than they usually are. He's stuck in the Fortress, feeling like he's healing too slowly, even though he's never healed that fast in his life. He wouldn't be feeling quite as useless and insecure if he was in the Manor. The Fortress is... Well, it's alien (unsurprisingly) and completely empty. Except how it's _not_ and it's alive, and creepy, and he would have liked to visit Superman's home in different circumstances that would have made him enjoy it.

He needs to grow up. Everything he's feeling shows his lack of maturity and nothing else. It's just so _hard_ to look at all of this that way. It's not what his gut says, not what he is feeling, deep down. He's scared of losing Batman to Superman; after all, he has nothing Superman doesn't have, and Superman has _everything_.

A while back, when Batman and Superman had just started working together, Dick had worked with Superman to save Batman's life. Batman had been poisoned and had to rest, and both Dick and Superman had agreed that simply telling him to stay in bed probably wouldn’t work. So they had devised a plan to make Batman believe he had broken his leg and force him into bed rest. After Batman had healed, he had told Dick that he had felt unsure and worried whether Robin would come back to him after the excitement of working with Superman for several days. Dick had thought it was all very silly.

Now, with Batman and Superman teaming up more and more often, he understands completely why Batman had felt that way. It's just another reason not to speak up about it, confirmation of how ridiculous he's being. He simply wishes Batman would do something to appease his worries. Maybe a passing comment about how he's more important than Superman. And if he asks... if he asks and gets scolded and has no answer at all, it will only make everything worse.

So he stays silent and thinks about it too much.

*

"It's fine. I can walk, no problem." This is not strictly true. He _could_ walk, but the 'no problem' might be an exaggeration. It doesn't feel any worse than a pulled muscle, and _those_ heal in a week or so. Dick is sure he could patrol either way, and that is really all he wants. Two days seeing Batman and Superman muttering from afar is enough.

Batman knows right away that Dick is stretching the truth and looks at him seriously. "That wouldn’t be the best course of action," he says with a tone that clearly indicates that this is the end of the conversation. Not that it has even started.

"The Fortress only heals me while I'm sleeping. I have nothing to do during the day."

Batman doesn't look like he thinks this is relevant. He probably doesn't. "Two more days. Maybe three."

"I don't need to rest anymore!"

Batman doesn't answer. The weight of the silence shuts Dick up, which doesn't stop him from frowning and pouting to show his disapproval.

Superman talks to him about an hour later. The conversation is awkward. Dick shouldn't be mad at _him_ because it's not his fault and anger is never a productive emotion. He has to repeat that to himself a few times throughout the conversation. Superman reassures him that he'll be fine, that it's only for a few days more, that Batman isn't mad at him and only wants him safe. It's all very nice, but it's not what Dick wants or needs to hear.

Honestly, Dick is mad at himself because he does remember why he’s here and he knows whose fault it is that he got a bullet in his thigh in the first place. He's had time to think in the last two days and he knows how lucky he is that it didn't hit an artery and that being healed by Kryptonian technology is saving him weeks off the streets. He just wants things to be back to normal as fast as possible, so he can know for sure that he's still first in Batman's heart and that Superman isn't taking his place. Superman won't reassure him about _that_.

The third day, when he wakes up, he's alone again. He's also very determined to be able to have the best patrol ever when he finally gets out of here. He doubts there is anything to train with in the Fortress, but he can at least use his legs a little. He hasn't in a couple of days after all, and they're probably very weak.

He stretches and tests how much he can move his injured leg for a bit, making sure that he's not about to do anything that would worsen the injury. He wouldn't have minded worsening it while on the streets, but alone in Antarctica? It would be really stupid.

He takes his time, wondering how long Bruce will want him to warm up before allowing him out. He only stretches for half that time, and he's pretty sure that he underestimated the time, too. It's not like Bruce is here to watch over him, anyway.

He's probably out with Superman.

He'd like to be able to tell if it's day or night in Gotham. There's always some form of light in the Fortress, coming from the whiteness of everything and probably from alien technology in the walls, so that doesn’t tell him anything. It's also constantly dark outside, the result of winter in Antarctica, so that's no help, either. He would know Bruce and Superman are not together _right now_ if he knew it was the middle of the day in Gotham. Not that this knowledge should change anything. It's none of Dick's business.

He frowns and stands up to change his mind. His right leg takes it well enough, and even if he's visibly limping, it doesn't slow him down all that much. It’s not like there is anyone to look at him limping, anyway. Since he’s alone.

And he needs to stop reminding himself of that fact. Counter-productive. Right. He's in an alien fortress! Even if it's not the way he would have liked it to be, he needs to at least exploit this a little. Every time he'd thought about this, he had figured Superman would bring him here and show him around, and it would have been amazing and he could have asked all the questions that went through his head. This, of course, isn’t happening, but he's still going to make his way around and be just as curious as he usually is.

The room he's in has no doors, it's just open white space that sometimes leads to more open white space (shaped like corridors, so Dick decides they're definitely corridors) and since he has no guide to help him around, he's going to choose one of those at random and go through it. He's been in strangers' homes hundreds of times, but nothing has ever felt as awkward and intrusive as limping around in Superman's Fortress.

When he takes a few steps away from the bed, the platform merges back into the floor. He doesn’t need a bed anymore, and the Fortress can tell somehow. He can feel the Fortress around him, not... moving exactly, but it has a presence. Or maybe the Fortress _is_ continuously moving very subtly, and that’s what it is. Whatever the reason, it feels like it made him choose that particular direction, like it's telling him that turning right here is the right thing to do, and the more he walks forward, the better he feels. There's a certain warmth about things around him, now, and maybe the Fortress is not as creepy or awkward as he felt it was before.

The corridor comes to an end when he hits a glass wall. It’s not a window, though: the Fortress continues on the other side. Dick can only see part of the huge room there, not as white as everything else, spreading right and left. He’d like to keep on going and get inside that room, but there are no doors to get any further. There must be a point to this, but Dick doesn't see it.

Or he doesn't until he sees something move on the other side of that window, on the right. He's definitely curious, now. He knows that this is not the first thing he should be feeling, he should probably be somewhat worried at the moment —he thought he was alone and maybe he's not, after all— but it only makes him content. Which doesn’t make much sense and he knows he should be puzzled, and even more worried, but that’s not what he’s feeling. Now that he thinks about it, he’s... satisfied? Maybe? Not quite happy but not far from it. He gets closer to the glass wall where he saw the movement and presses his palm, open, against the window. It's not cold, surprisingly. It's warm and welcoming like the rest of the Fortress. It makes him want to lean against the glass a little, although he can't explain why.

Before he does it, though, a dark tentacle presses against the glass on the other side of it, mirroring his hand. Dick's eyes open wide and he backs up suddenly, forgetting about his injured leg for a second and wincing when the pain passes through him.

The creature behind the glass removes its tentacle and... Dick feels sad, suddenly. Emotionally hurt, and it takes him a moment to understand that these are not _his_ emotions, that the...

He's feeling what the creature is feeling.

"I'm sorry," he says without thinking about it, not sure if the creature can hear him with the glass between them or can even understand whatever he might be saying. "I just got scared." He puts his hand back against the glass as if to show that he's really fine now.

He's (the creature— the creature is) uncertain and scared, and it puts a tentacle back in front of Dick's hand. Dick smiles, and the creature is happy. And worried. Dick can somehow tell that it's because of the pain he felt just a minute ago when he moved too fast on his leg.

"I'm fine, you're not the one who did that," he says, which makes the creature confused. "Someone else hurt me a few days ago," Dick explains, thinking maybe the confusion is really a mix of questioning and curiosity. "I’m here to heal faster."

The creature is just as confused as before, and Dick has to consider that it’s not understanding any of what he’s saying. Talking is probably not the best way to communicate with the creature (it's an alien, Dick realises, an alien with the peculiar appearance of a huge tentacled... something... an alien animal?). 

He can’t figure out where the alien’s eyes are, if it has any, so to make eye contact or to sign something seems like a silly idea. He tries thinking, ‘I’m fine, this is an old wound,’ loudly like he once did with that telepath they met, but the alien doesn’t react to that. And then Dick realises... If he knows how the alien is feeling, there’s already some form of communication between them. And he’s pretty sure it can also tell how Dick feels because it’s been reacting to _something_.

He tries to convey that he’s fine in feelings and discovers that passing feelings across may be a bit more complicated than he thought it would be. You're not supposed to go around controlling your feelings and deciding what they are after all.

He thinks it works because the worried and confused feeling goes away.

And then there are a million emotions, all at the same time, invading him. And he doesn't know what to do, he doesn't know how to deal or what it means and he screams. They're all gone and the creature is worried again. It was trying to communicate with him, Dick realises, and he's never talked that way. He can't speak its language efficiently and it can't speak his at all.

Dick doesn't know how to say, 'try that again, but do it slowly,' in emotions, and this is not what he is _feeling_ right now. He's feeling a bit creeped out, and a lot curious, and disappointed that he's not sure how to make this work. He accidentally keeps trying to project his thoughts to the creature, but it's not the same, is it? It's not regular telepathy he's dealing with; it's emotional telepathy and empathy.

He swallows and decides to go with the flow. He's good at improvising, always has been, and this can't be more complicated than finding a way to communicate with someone underwater in less than five seconds because their lives are in danger, right?

Dick puts his second hand against the glass and watches the creature move to stand in front of him. It's at least twice his height, and it's hard to judge how big it is overall because it has twelve tentacles coming out of... Well, it's not an incredibly large octopus. The tentacles don't have suckers and aren't placed like they would be on an octopus. They're just very flexible limbs, and Dick can't figure out if it has a head, or a mouth, or _something_. Aliens on TV are all humanoids or shaped like animals that Earth knows about. Hell, other aliens Dick knows look like humans —or humans with weird skin colours. This is not that. This, what's standing in front of him right now, does not look like anything that can be found on Earth. It's probably normal, too, since living beings transform according to their environment. Dick doesn't know what environment this particular creature comes from, of course, but it's probably very different from Earth.

Maybe, that's why it's behind that glass... Maybe, Superman saved it from the destruction of its planet, but it can't live on Earth, so there are special conditions kept in that room on the other side of this glass, and it's the only way to keep it alive.

Dick smiles when it tries to communicate again and does it more slowly, not overwhelming him. It's just saying hi, and it’s glad to meet him. It's... very hard to understand everything it says, but it distracts him. He doesn't feel quite so alone anymore.

Dick stays with the creature for hours, and they converse the way two kids that don't speak each other's language would: they stumble, they don't really know what they're saying, but they're happy to be together. After all that time, Dick still doesn't know why it's here, what's going on with it, or even if he should stop thinking about it using an impersonal pronoun like 'it', but he still feels like they bonded a little.

He tries to introduce himself then, realising he hasn't. An emotion comes back right away, flowing inside him. It doesn't truly feel like anything he knows, and he doesn't understand. The creature, however, understands that Dick doesn't and sends him that same wave of unidentified something. It's all it takes for Dick to get that this is the creature's name, that it's introducing itself to Dick, too. Dick laughs and says, "Can I just find you a human name? I can't really talk about you to people calling you..." He sends back the same emotion. It's surprisingly easy.

The creature most probably doesn't know what Dick just said (not the right language, after all) but it's very glad that Dick used its name. For the sake of his own brain, Dick calls it Jesse, because it's the first gender neutral name that crosses his mind, and he still doesn't know what gender Jesse is. If it even has one, really.

Bruce once told Dick that he was good at adapting to unexpected situations, and Dick thinks this is one of those situations where he understood and adapted well. Jesse understood and adapted even better, though. It’s the one who realised how to best communicate with Dick, after all. He's not talking to an animal, even if Jesse might sort of look like one. Dick is aware of humanity enough that he knows humans tend to decide that anything that doesn't look like themselves is an animal and not worthy of the title 'person'. However, Jesse is a person, and Dick is talking to _someone_. He knows a lot of people discriminate against aliens, or would if they knew they existed, but Dick isn't like that. Jesse is just as eloquent as anyone, and probably more intelligent than most. It understands Dick better than Dick understands it, and it knows how to make Dick comfortable, how to make Dick smile or laugh, and it's the one responsible for that friendly connection between them.

He sends disappointment and a promise that he'll be back later to Jesse when he hears Superman open the door of the Fortress before leaving the room. Jesse understands. Dick is grateful.

*

Superman asks him how he is first after a brief hello. If Dick didn't know any better, he'd say he was only asking to be polite and not because he honestly wanted to know.

"Fine." It's really hard not to feel good in Superman's presence. Just like it was hard not to feel good in Jesse's. For the first time, Dick wonders if his powers don't expand to some sort of... What is it that Jesse has, exactly? Empathy does not describe it perfectly, but it's not a bad choice. Emotional projection...?

"Bruce will be here in a few hours." There's a pause, but it's for the effect more than because Kal is hesitating. "We talked about you."

"Oh?"

"We've concluded that if you want to leave with him tonight, instead of sleeping here another night or two, you could. If you felt well enough." It's clear from Kal's tone that he believes it's not the best idea. Usually, Dick wouldn't care and just get away, but, well... he told Jesse that he'd come back. Not to mention he's still limping, so it would really be better for him if he stayed a bit longer, just to be sure.

Dick grins and tilts his head. "You don't think I should, huh?"

"Don't take it badly, but I—"

"It's fine," Dick interrupts. "I know. I'm not stupid. I can stay until I'm healed. I don't wanna end up here again in a few days because I was off my game, anyway."

Kal looks relieved and smiles back at Dick. "I'm glad you feel that way. I think Bruce will also appreciate that you would rather recuperate. He's worried about you, you know."

Dick does, but it's still good to hear someone voice it out loud.

"Did you use your time today to explore?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I always thought that you'd show me around, but... well, you know. I was bored." Kal doesn't look like he minds, but Dick's still a bit worried that he wasn't supposed to.

"I'm sorry I was not available for that. Maybe... some other time? Did you find anything you thought was interesting?"

"I sort of ended up in the room with..." Obviously, the alien's name is not really Jesse and he can't say its real name out loud. "The last room over there. With the glass walls."

Kal frowns a little but doesn't comment.

"So yeah. I stayed there and talked with the alien for a while. I sort of named it Jesse in my mind? But I guess you probably have a name you can pronounce for it already, so..." Dick shrugs, a bit awkward. "Why is it there, anyway? I couldn't figure out how to ask."

Now, Kal looks slightly confused, like he understands what Dick is saying, but has a hard time making sense of the words. "I can't very well let it roam around..."

"So there is a special type of atmosphere on the other side of the glass? That's what I thought. It must suck to always be stuck at the same place like this."

"It's an animal from another planet. A monster. I keep it here because it might be useful to study and because it could be dangerous if it weren't locked up somewhere. The Fortress adapted and created a cell that could hold it." Kal frowns. "What do you mean, you talked to it?" He says, his voice serious, nearly cold. It makes Dick extremely uncomfortable, considering Kal's voice is _never_ cold.

It's Dick's turn to comprehend the words but not what the sentence means. "Jesse isn't a monster," he says after a few seconds, sounding a lot more offended than he wants to.

Kal sighs. "You can't simply... give something a name to change the core of what it is, Dick."

"I didn't name it! It has a name already. I just... can't pronounce it since it's all... Have you ever _talked_ to it?" Dick would have expected some people to judge based on appearance or to be too afraid to try and start a dialogue, but not Superman. Superman is a citizen of the world, he's seen thousands of things that Dick will never see and some that he can't even imagine. He's not supposed to be that way.

"Dick. I'm sorry but no. It has powerful psychic abilities and can play with your mind in ways—" Kal cuts himself off, looking away. "Don't let it in your head."

"That's how it talks!" Dick is suddenly horrified that there is a real possibility that Kal locked Jesse up because _it tried talking to him_ and Dick doesn't know how to react to this. Kal knows telepaths exist, and that they're really not all horrible and evil. He _knows_ , and yet... But Jesse isn't quite a telepath, and Dick remembers how he thought, at first, that he was actually feeling what Jesse was feeling. Dick had never assumed that Jesse was trying to _make_ him feel those emotions, that it was trying to control him that way, but he sort of understands how someone could have thought that that was what it was doing.

Kal stares at Dick, and Dick feels completely lost. He feels like screaming and maybe like crying a little. "You could just let it out," he says finally, nearly whispering, "and you'd see that it's not the way you think."

Superman's hand on his shoulder has always felt good, but this time, it feels like a cop-out and like he's being pitied. "It was too complicated to capture it; I can not risk having to do it again and putting lives in dangers."

 _Is this the way you think of everyone?_ , Dick doesn't ask. He feels young, younger than he actually is, and completely useless.

"Even if it didn't hurt anyone and you were right— people would hurt it. People would be scared."

And Dick has to agree with this. After all, this is the way Superman feels, and he can't expect human beings to feel differently.

"Don't go near it again," Kal says — _orders_ — and Dick figures that not answering is the best way not to eventually break his word.

*

He knows that Kal talked about Jesse to Bruce, but Bruce doesn't say anything.

"Are you sure you don't mind staying a little longer?" Bruce asks him.

Dick nods. If he had been a bit hesitant before, he's not anymore. He feels too horrible for Jesse to simply leave it behind without at least saying goodbye.

*

When he wakes up, his leg is completely healed. He's alone in the room again, but now that he knows he's not alone in the Fortress, he stands up immediately, stretches anyway because he knows it's not optional whether he's hurt or not, and changes out of his pajamas and into sweats and a t-shirt. He eyes his uniform when he changes, but decides against it. He'll be more comfortable this way.

Usually, he'd also take a shower in the morning if he hadn't the night before, but the Fortress cleans him during the night and he's not going to think about that more than simply acknowledging that he's always perfectly clean when he wakes up.

He's sort of disappointed that Jesse isn't there waiting for him when he get to its room, but he only has to call it (he's a bit proud that he remembers how to do it; it's a whole new language and he had been anxious that he'd forget Jesse's real name after using it only once) for it to move from behind a solid wall on the left to one of the glass walls.

Dick can't help feeling sad when he sees it now that he knows why it's here, and that's the problem with communicating through emotions when you're a human that isn't used to it: there's no way he can make himself not feel sad and control it, and so there's no way Jesse doesn't hear him.

Interrogation, curiosity and worry. A hint of surprise, too.

Dick doesn't try to say anything, just lets his feelings pour out naturally and hopes that it's enough to make Jesse understand at least part of the situation. He can't be sure he's done it as much as he wants to, but Jesse answers with a great deal of resolution and acceptance. Of course— Jesse knew its situation already, knew that it was locked up and would stay that way probably forever, so it's not exactly news to it. Dick is the only one who didn't know.

He feels sorry and then a bit better when Jesse's thankful.

And now, he needs to figure out how to ask if there's a door anywhere, so he can be on the other side of that stupid glass wall now that he knows it's not there for anyone's protection. Someone has got to feed Jesse sometimes, right? If Jesse... eats... It's not as though Dick can see a mouth and Jesse might eat _air_ for all he knows, but he prefers to believe that there _is_ a way in.

Confusion. Jesse doesn't understand, which isn't a big surprise. They're communicating well enough, but they'd need a lot more time spent together to really be able to understand each other, and this is way too precise of a question for Jesse to be able to get it. Or even to answer... Dick doesn't know what 'go to the right and press this button and a door will open' is in this language, after all. If the instructions would even resemble that at all.

There's someone else Dick can ask, though. He pushes the flat of his palms against the glass and mutters to himself while thinking the same thing very loudly, "Come on, Fortress. I just want a door. Let me through." Talking to a sentient fortress is also not something Dick does very often, but he knows it answers to thoughts and needs. When they needed a bed, it morphed and made up a bed. Right now, Dick needs a door.

It doesn't quite morph and create a door the way Dick expects it to. Instead, the glass becomes suddenly liquid under his hands, and the next second, he's fumbling through it and is on the other side. When he turns around, the window is solid once again behind him.

Dick barely has any time to feel happy about his success before his emotions are taken over by Jesse's, and it's strong and definitely positive, but also too much for Dick to be able to pinpoint precisely what Jesse is telling him, what it's feeling. It's definitely _good_ , though, and Dick laughs and takes a few steps towards Jesse, surprised that Jesse hasn't moved closer to him.

When the overwhelming feeling of 'yes!' starts fading away, it allows Dick to understand that Jesse is shy and uncertain about this, although really not against anything happening, and Dick is okay with this. He can take the first step.

He reaches out and touches one of Jesse's arms, unable to stop grinning. It's soft and unlike anything he's ever touched before. It's also all that is needed for Jesse to understand that everything is okay: Dick wants to be there. Dick is suddenly wrapped in half a dozen soft, slippery without being wet tentacles, and pulled up towards Jesse's body. He feels amazing, or Jesse does... or, most likely, they both do and Dick has a thought about how spending time with Jesse could be addictive considering how good it feels, even though they're not doing anything, not even talking to each other right now, just _touching_. Touching makes the transfer of emotions stronger.

Dick can't tell how long it takes before he starts thinking again instead of just feeling, and part of him knows that this is dangerous, but he trusts Jesse. After all, he can feel what Jesse's feeling just as much as the opposite, and he's not getting any hint of bad intentions.

Jesse has one of its arms wrapped around Dick's waist under his shirt, warm against his skin, and when he starts talking to Jesse again, he tries asking it how it's feeling. Is it okay? Is _this_ okay? Is there something Dick should do?

The first answer Dick gets is something he recognises right away: love. He feels instantly guilty. Jesse was used to no one caring about it and knew that it was going to be locked away forever; it was resigned to it and still wasn't aggressive and mean to Dick when they met, knowing Dick wasn't responsible for any of it. It's normal that Jesse would develop strong feelings for Dick very quickly: Dick is its first friendly contact with anyone for who knows how long.

Dick is also leaving tonight, _maybe_ tomorrow night. He's going to abandon Jesse and doesn't know when he'll be able to come back. Gotham and Antarctica are not exactly close to each other.

Jesse's enthusiasm fades as it listens to Dick's feelings, and it starts lowering Dick to the ground, guilty too, although not for the same reasons. Dick gets a hold on the limb closest to his hand and pulls on it lightly to bring it up to his face. He strokes his cheek against it, trailing his fingers up and down the arm.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbles. "I don't think I can do anything."

Jesse starts stroking his back with the limb around his waist, understanding that it's a gesture meant to comfort. It tells Dick to feel better, that it doesn't care, that it's still glad he's here. It does make Dick feel better, and since Jesse is attuned to his emotions, it makes Jesse feel better, too. It's good that way because he doesn't want Jesse to feel even worse after he leaves than before they met.

Dick smiles and turns his head on the side, kissing the tentacle there and enjoying the feeling of Jesse's skin under his lips more than he probably should, and that's when the tentacle stroking his back moves around his torso and slides against his stomach and chest. Dick startles, eyes opening, and for a second, he thinks Jesse's doing it on purpose for some reason, but Jesse probably doesn’t know how Dick's body works any more than Dick knows how its body functions, and stroking skin is probably the same for Jesse wherever that skin is...

"Uhm."

Jesse slows down, interrogative and a bit mixed-up. Dick knows exactly why, too. It's because part of him wants Jesse to stop, uncomfortable with the idea of it touching him like this, but part of him is definitely enjoying the attention and the touches, and that must be weird to try and understand for someone who talks by listening to and projecting emotions.

A tentacle strokes one of his nipples and his breath hitches. It's definitely not that he wants Jesse to stop touching him, he realises, far from it. It's that he's not sure _Jesse_ knows what it's doing and why it's affecting Dick like this.

Jesse, of course, knows what Dick is feeling even though it can't tell exactly what he's thinking. Reassurance and questioning are what comes from it —because Jesse wants to be sure that it's not doing something Dick doesn't want and wants Dick to know that it's fine. It knows. There's no reason to worry about Jesse: it _does_ understand. Dick feels a bit ashamed that he underestimated Jesse and thought it was naive and ignorant. Jesse has known more about what's going on than Dick from the beginning. In fact, when Dick thought it was locked up for its safety, it already knew that it was imprisoned. If one of them had been naive, it was Dick.

Dick turns his head to kiss Jesse's tentacle again, and Jesse is amused. The amusement turns to something devious when it strokes over Dick's nipple again, slow and deliberate. Dick could probably help how much he arches into the touch, but he doesn't want to.

"Are you trying to make me forget that I'm sad for you?" he asks. He gets a wave of mixed emotions that he can’t figure out in return. He's not sure if it's because Jesse understood and answered something too complicated for Dick to get, or if they're both talking to each other, but neither of them are really understanding much of what the other is saying. Dick finds that he doesn't really mind which it is, that it doesn't really matter.

Especially when it feels like Jesse is on a mission as it strokes his nipple again and moves another tentacle around Dick's waist, holding onto him and caressing his chest and stomach. It's not hesitating anymore, and Dick is pretty sure that it's because _he's_ not sending mixed messages like he had only minutes earlier. He hums, closing his eyes and lying back against Jesse's limbs and just... letting Jesse do what it wants, trusting it not to do anything he wouldn't like because it will know right away if that happens and, judging from the way it acted earlier, it's going to stop if it does.

It moves faster, and then slower, pressing harder and then not. And harder again when Dick moans sadly from the lack of a more forceful contact. It's... testing things out. Trying to find out what Dick enjoys, what makes Dick happier. This makes _so much sense_ because, whether or not it enjoys the contact itself, it's totally feeding off Dick's emotions right now. It _wants_ Dick to feel as good as possible because if he does, then Jesse does too.

Jesse's tentacles are almost perfectly smooth. They run over his skin with barely any friction at all. When one moves around him and traces down his spine, he shivers and opens his eyes a little.

"Do—"

Of course, he doesn't get to ask Jesse with _words_ to do it again before it does because it _knows_ how that made Dick feel. Jesse strokes up along his spine, pressing a little harder, and then down again. Dick doesn't shiver quite as strongly as before, but this time, it makes him feel hotter all over and he has to open his mouth to breathe.

The tentacle near his head slides away until the tip of it is next to his mouth, and then it's tracing his lips, and it's not technically a kiss, but it feels so good, and he's pretty sure that Jesse also likes touching his mouth this way because it's feeling kind of amazing about it, too. Which is ridiculous, it's next to nothing, but—

 _Oh_ , Jesse's tentacle on his back hasn't stopped moving down this time and it's pushing under his waistband. He jerks away, surprised, his breath hitching really loudly. The movement and the way Jesse's limbs are placed around him make his sweatpants rub against his—

Against his _erection_ because he's hard. He has to open his eyes and glance down, to find himself staring at a much bigger bulge than he was expecting to see. He wants to bite his lower lip and also doesn't because maybe Jesse would remove the tentacle moving against his lips... so he settles on licking Jesse instead, his tongue flat and strong against the tip of the tentacle. It doesn't taste much at all, just a faint something that's both sweet and bitter and that Dick decides just tastes like Jesse and it—

It feels really kind of incredible because Jesse _likes_ it. A lot. And there's really something to be said about experiencing pleasure and desire through someone else's emotions.

He can't not do it again, licking to the tip of the tentacle and then down a few inches again and he wants to shake from how _strong_ Jesse's emotions are. He does shake when Jesse's tentacle dips even further inside his pants and slides against his ass and he— he can't say he's not loving this, every second of this, but he's never— He's only _thought_ about... about anal sex, but—

Jesse understands all of this, though, and if Dick isn't comfortable about anything _more_ in that area, it won't do anything more. It makes it clear for Dick, too, as it continues stroking him without pushing in. Dick thinks he might be sweating, and his clothes are suddenly itchy and uncomfortable. He starts moving around to try and pull them off, and Jesse catches on and helps, pulling his shirt over his head and pushing his pants off. Dick's been naked in front of Bruce plenty of times in the Cave's showers, and even though he's not awkward around Bruce as he might have been at first, he has also never been completely at ease. Right now, bundled between who knows how many of Jesse's limbs, two of them stroking his chest and his ass, he's so completely at ease he doesn't even think about his nudity. He just feels as if it were always meant to be this way.

The tentacle that was dropping his pants... somewhere... moves back up, curling around his leg, and Dick twitches when it reaches his thigh. And then it _stops there_ , and Dick groans, frustrated, and tries moving towards it, so that it'll maybe just brush against his cock—

Jesse moves its tentacle _with_ Dick, keeping it just a few inches from where Dick wants it— needs it to be.

" _God_ , are you doing this on _purpose_?" Dick hisses, his voice hoarse, and he realises that that _is_ exactly the case as he says it. He can feel Jesse's amusement from the way Dick is reacting to its teasing between all the other emotions they're both currently feeling. It just makes him try harder to get Jesse to touch him.

" _Please_. Ah— fuck—" He can almost see Bruce's disapproving expression as he swears. "Please," he repeats, and Jesse won't understand the words, but it must feel how desperate Dick is, how much he _wants_ —

It's way too intense when Jesse finally slides a tentacle up against the length of his cock, both physically and mentally because he's feeling way too many things, and Jesse's feeling it too, and then Dick's feeling the echo of his own pleasure through Jesse, and this is— really kind of crazy. Jesse is barely touching him and he thinks he's going to come really soon.

Or maybe faint. Or both at the same time. The prospect doesn't worry him at all, even though it probably should.

Jesse keeps moving its tentacle up and down, caressing Dick's cock like it stroked his chest, nipples, lips and... and his ass... and it's really nice at first, but it quickly becomes a bit frustrating because it's not enough. Jesse isn't feeling devious anymore, though. Because. Because, for once, it's not acting on purpose: stroking Dick's skin that way _has_ worked really well so far.

"N-no, wait—"

Jesse listens. A lot more than Dick would have liked, because it stops touching him everywhere, worried, and it makes Dick _groan_. It takes only a second for Jesse's tentacles to be all over him again, but Jesse's really confused and it wants to know what is going on.

Dick doesn't know how to tell it, how to explain, so he spreads his legs, perfectly balanced and held up by Jesse, and reaches for his cock with his hands. He wraps a hand loosely around it and guides Jesse's tentacle with the other, curling it around his erection and pushing the limb against his own hand, currently moving up and down without any pressure, just to give it an example.

Cheerful comprehension runs through Dick when Jesse understands, and there are suddenly tentacles tightening around his wrists to pull his hands away, raising them above his head as they were before. At the same time, the tentacle that had been rubbing against his cock wraps itself around it, coiling around twice and then it... tightens. Constricts as it starts moving fast. There's no rhythm and Dick's hips buck into the touch without any permission.

"Oooh, _god_." He lets out a high noise and then licks Jesse's tentacle again, pressing his lips against it forcefully to try and muffle the sounds he's making into its skin. He wants to bite down on something, but he can't bite _Jesse_.

He only realises that Jesse's tentacles are still holding onto his wrists when he tries pulling a hand to his mouth to bite on it, and he really shouldn't be surprised by how much being restrained turns him on, making his cock twitch in Jesse's hold. Jesse even starts loosening his grip on Dick's wrists, and Dick can tell it had just forgotten to let go after moving his hands earlier, that it hadn't been its goal to bind him. But then it gets a feel of Dick's emotions and _actually_ ties him up with his tentacles. Deliberately.

It's really no use trying to stop the needy sounds coming out of his mouth anymore and he has never really tried stopping himself from shifting and stirring against Jesse. In fact, now that it's holding onto his arms, Dick lets go entirely, thrusting into Jesse's curled tentacle faster and faster until he can't speed up anymore, can just move nearly out of reflex and _feel_ —

His orgasm takes him entirely too much by surprise and rips a yell out of him as he tenses up, and then falls back into Jesse's arms, limp and breathing hard, and more than a little surprised that this wasn't intense enough for him to lose consciousness. Jesse doesn't stop moving right away, slowing down instead and gradually letting go of his wrists, moving the tentacles on his chest and against his ass away, and then uncurling the one around his softening cock.

Dick curls in on himself a little, reaching out to hold onto whatever part of Jesse he can, and Jesse— Jesse cuddles him, wrapping tentacles around him like a blanket. When Dick starts being able to think again, he concentrates on Jesse for long enough to feel that it's just as satisfied and sated as he is. Dick suddenly wants to know what it is like to be inside your lover's head and to feel what they're feeling as they have an orgasm. He wishes he knew how to give Jesse one...

Jesse reacts to this and starts talking, which is disorienting at first, but Dick eventually thinks he understands what Jesse is telling him: that it's entirely satisfied and happy and did reach a climax. A _kind_ of climax, in any case. Dick can't help not feeling entirely satisfied by _that_.

However, Jesse really _is_ feeling just as incredible as Dick, so he figures maybe his standards for things like this don't apply to Jesse. Most of his standards don't apply to Jesse after all.

He doesn't get to think about this more than that, or to start worrying about how much he's really going to hate leaving once he's healed, now, because he quickly falls asleep.

He doesn't sleep for long (he's had a perfectly good night of sleep already), and then he stays with Jesse all day. He does eventually think about how much more difficult he's made things for the both of them, but Jesse tells him he's wrong and distracts him again, which is very effective. Mainly because Dick lets Jesse distract him.

They're snuggling and talking when Dick thinks he can hear something and quickly asks Jesse to put him back on the ground, finds his clothes, and gets dressed. It hurts to leave Jesse behind when he leaves its room.

He goes back to the main room where he has been staying so far, and then wonders if he hasn't just imagined a sound because no one's in the Fortress. He's considering going back to Jesse when Kal really _does_ come back, so his timing was good after all.

He lies when Kal asks him what he did today, and he doesn't feel very guilty about it at all.

*

He should be telling Bruce that he's healed, because he is, but somehow when Bruce asks him if he's well enough to go back to Gotham with him, Dick answers, "I'm still a bit sore. One more day won't really matter at this point, so I better just stay until I'm sure I won't screw up my leg because I went back on the field too soon, right?"

Bruce looks at him for a while, and Dick is pretty sure he saw right through his lie, but he eventually nods.

"Yes, of course."

"I'll have the best patrol ever when I'm back."

"I know you will. And you will also have to catch up on that week of school you've missed."

Dick groans for show, even though he doesn't really mind. He keeps himself ahead with his work as often as possible because he knows sometimes he comes back to the Manor exhausted or hurt and that isn't an excuse to fall behind with his schoolwork.

"Are you okay out there without me?" Dick asks Bruce after a few seconds in a smaller voice. If there's something that will make him leave Jesse behind, it's Bruce telling him that he needs him in Gotham.

"I will be for another day," Bruce tells him in a tone that, Dick can tell, is meant to be reassuring. It only makes Dick feel a bit guilty for lying to Bruce about this, but he is almost completely sure that Bruce wouldn't think it wise to allow him to stay if Dick told him the real reason he wants to.

"Has Superman been in Gotham a lot?" Dick asks, trying to sound casual.

Bruce puts a hand over Dick's forearm. "Not a lot, but even if he had, you are irreplaceable, Dick."

Dick feels a bit like he did the first time he put on the Robin uniform.

"You too, you know."

He doesn't say anything else because he knows that irreplaceable can mean many things and that Kal is probably just as irreplaceable as he is, only in different ways. He's just glad that Bruce understands and is trying to cheer him up.

*

Dick waits for Superman and Batman to leave the Fortress again, faking that he's sleeping for long enough that he nearly does fall asleep at least twice before getting up and going straight to Jesse. He doesn't even have to ask the Fortress to let him through the glass this time; as soon as he presses his hand against the glass, he can walk right through it.

Jesse reaches out for him immediately and he's got his arms full of tentacles in under a second —or it would be more accurate to say that Jesse has its arms full of him, really. He closes his eyes and rubs the side of his face on one of the limbs, saying Jesse's real name in his head, liking how he still has no problem with it. He chuckles when Jesse slips a tentacle under his shirt around his waist, and he's trying to figure out how to communicate that it's actually the night for him and he wants to sleep when he yawns. It seems to do the trick because Jesse answers with a very specific kind of awareness that tells Dick it understands, and also that Jesse doesn't have any need for sleep itself.

Jesse adapts, and Dick wouldn't have considered a pile of tentacles to be the best place to sleep, but clearly he had to try it before making up his mind on the topic because it's extremely comfortable, warm and soft, and Jesse's happiness resonates all through him as he falls asleep.

He's woken up when Jesse moves him around quickly, and he finds himself completely hidden under its limbs against the centre of its body, and even there, he can't really tell how Jesse's body works or even if it has a heart or a brain of some kind.

Not that it matters. He's wide awake right away and stroking whatever he can reach of Jesse's body while trying to speak to it to understand what's going on. Jesse's response is too complicated and confusing for Dick to understand, at least until he hears Kal yelling his name, the sound faint in the distance. Oh. Ooooh, shit.

In the midst of what Jesse is telling him, he understands that it considers Kal to be extremely dangerous, and Dick is suddenly aware that Jesse knows who locked it up, but doesn't understand that Dick is a friend of Kal. They never did talk about how Dick had ended up there. It's hard to make Jesse understands that it really, _really_ needs to let Dick go and stop trying to protect him because Dick is panicked and worried for Jesse, and he can tell those feelings only make Jesse want to protect him more.

Frustrated and out of options, Dick yells, "Superman, stop!", and tries to tell the same thing to Jesse. 'Stop' isn't that hard to say in Jesse's language, but it's still a challenge while he's freaking out a little. He can tell that Jesse is willing to listen, except that it's being attacked by laser beams, so listening to Dick isn't the wisest course of action.

"Superman!"

"Dick! Don't worry, I'll get you out!" comes the muffled answer.

"No! No, just. Step back. Give me a minute."

The sounds stop, Jesse is immobile again, and Dick can breathe and calm down enough to spend the required time to clear his mind and talk to Jesse.

Jesse is really lost and unsure, but willing to admit that Superman _has_ stopped attacking it, so maybe he won't try and hurt Dick. When it opens up its tentacles to let Dick out, it's still on edge and careful, ready to act if needed.

"Dick!" Kal yells, moving towards him.

"Nonono! Stay where you are!" Dick reaches out for one of Jesse's limbs, stroking it slowly, trying to be reassuring. What else could he try to make Jesse understand that Superman doesn't want to hurt him? He tries friendship, but communicating friendship is not what Dick thought it'd be, and he ends up just passing along love. It calms Jesse down right away, although it's not what Dick had intended.

"Dick?"

"I'm trying to tell it that you don't want to hurt me," Dick mutters, frowning.

"That _I_ don't want to hurt you?"

"You made a really bad first impression when you locked it up. It thinks you're dangerous."

Kal looks at him like he thinks Dick is crazy, but at least he does stay where he is while Dick is talking to Jesse. Jesse's bright; it understands the situation fast enough, even though Dick wishes he were better at communicating that way.

"Dick! Get away! It's trying to get inside my head!"

Dick sends confusion and questioning to Jesse, who is just as confused as Dick. It says its name in Dick's mind, and Dick understands.

"I think it just said hi? It introduced itself."

There is a long silence, during which Dick wonders if Kal is currently talking to Jesse himself. He doesn't dare move or say anything. Eventually, Kal sighs.

"I'll have to try talking to it some other time. I... may have misjudged it. When I first met it."

"Yeah, maybe you should do that," Dick answers, a small smile tugging on the corner of his lips. Now that the rush is wearing off, he realises he's still really tired. "Is it the middle of the night?"

"Yes. I only left a few hours ago."

Dick nods. "Everything's okay? I can go back to sleep?"

He's not making any move towards the glass and Kal scowls for a second. "You should probably sleep in the bed," he tells Dick, and it's the first time Dick has found Kal's tone to be condescending.

He's about to answer when the Fortress makes a bed, right here in Jesse's room. Kal does not look like he thinks this is funny at all.

"So the Fortress is in on this?"

"The Fortress let me in through the glass."

Dick could swear that Kal is biting his tongue to stop himself from talking without thinking first. "Fine. But we will have to talk about this tomorrow. With Bruce present."

Dick swallows and Kal leaves him behind. Even though he's tired, he's also back to being stressed out and worried and is certain he won't be able to sleep for the rest of the night. That is, until Jesse curls its arms around him and pulls him close. Dick falls asleep, feeling safe and loved.

**Author's Note:**

> [Glovered](http://glovered.livejournal.com/) drew awesome art of Dick and Jesse [here](http://tomberevanoui.livejournal.com/1298.html)! Check it out!


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